Home Owners for Better Building call on HUD Secretay Julian Csstro To Enforce Federal Codes
Saturday, 04 October 2014
Local homeowners call on Julian Castro to overhaul HUD
The Mirasol homes were built
using HUD money, and homeowners said if builders had followed HUD's federal
building guidelines, the builders would have avoided lawsuits and the wasted,
taxpayer money.
Local homeowners call on Julian Castro to overhaul HUD
Joe Conger, KENS 5
SAN ANTONIO -- With dilapidated and boarded-up homes as a backdrop, a local group is pushing for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro to overhaul how HUD handles its home building.
The group Homeowners for Better Building, or HOBB, said Castro has first-hand knowledge of what happens when HUD homes failâ and they cite the Mirasol development as an example.
Many of the homes along Precious Street are still vacant and boarded upâmore than a decade after being built for the San Antonio Housing Authority for low-income homeowners Some of the owners began complaining that their houses began falling apart within weeks of moving in.
The companies that built the homes finally agreed to pay homeowners and SAHA $20 million dollars to settle claims over poor or substandard construction.
The Mirasol homes were built using HUD money, and homeowners said if builders had followed HUD's federal building guidelines, the builders would have avoided lawsuits and the wasted, taxpayer money.